Flagstaff, Arizona

We left Tucson and headed for Flagstaff, Arizona. It was a sad departure but we explained to the boys that we still have a LOT to see and many more adventures to be had.

Let me just start out with saying it was SO cold in Flagstaff. E banned all type of cold-weather RV-ing after that trip. It was slippery, wet, cold and just icky for the guy who hooks up everything. Thank you, babe! We couldn't even keep our hoses hooked up because they would freeze. We instead had to fill up our tanks and empty them during the day and then put them away when finished. Again, time consuming and hand-numbing for the guy who stands outside for the 30 or so minutes it takes to do all that business.

Tombstone

As you know, we love love love the V Family and our kids wanted nothing more than to spend every waking second with them. It was like pulling teeth every time we left the RV Park. So, when they asked us if we wanted to day trip to Tombstone, well... we were all about it! I think the kids might have all screamed with excitement in unison.

It was a lovely afternoon full of dirt roads, old saloons, ghost stories, souvenir shops, graveyards, cheesy gun-fighting shows and the border patrol. Sounds just lovely, doesn't it?

Life Lessons in Tucson

I've never really considered the people that "lived" next to us. Maybe that is being inconsiderate or maybe it's just me being real. People come and go all the time when your home is on wheels.

Tucson is the first place that a "neighbor" knocked on our door and it was funny. I mean it really was. I was on the phone and had to say, "Can you hold on a minute, our neighbor is knocking on the door." Tucson was the first place we met other families that are full-timing and it was great. We needed it.

I thought you might enjoy reading a bit about it and well... it's just a good story. Hope you agree.

Tucson: Our Top 5

Tucson was our 2nd month long stint and it was incredible. Not necessarily because of the city itself but it was more the circumstances that did it for me. This post will cover what we did and saw and the next will be about what we learned.

Here are our Top 5 Favorites for Tucson:

The Giving Tour: The Salvation Army

I'll be honest. The kids weren't super thrilled to be spending their Christmas morning volunteering. They immediately thought we'd have cereal for breakfast and be gone all day with no time to play with their new toys. We typically wake up, get some hot cocoa, tea and coffee, open presents and stockings and finish up with Gramma's famous eggs benedict and mimosas.

We had something else in mind...

Whiskey and Donuts

My mom arrived December 20th and we spent the first few days shopping for food. Literally it seemed like countless hours and days going to one grocery store after another finding all the ingredients we needed (hollandaise, etc.) for our Christmas dinner and breakfast. During her quick visit (she left the 26th) we were still able to squeeze in some time to Saguaro National Park, the Children's Museum and even volunteered while she was in town.

My favorite part of our Christmas fun? BATCH (hence the title). It is an awesome restaurant in downtown Tucson. Believe it or not it was pouring in Tucson on Christmas Eve and we braved the rain and wind and headed for Batch. It has to be good if they specialize in whiskey, donuts and grilled cheese sandwiches. I've got one word for it: YUM! We had the whole restaurant to ourselves on Christmas Eve and it was unforgettable.

2016 is a Wrap!

A perfect quote about the road we chose. Now onto the post. It's been a while.

The last few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind for us as we left Tucson and headed to Flagstaff, Page, Grand Canyon, Sedona and now Vegas. The kids have been on winter break and we have been filling our days and keeping busy. It leaves this mama worn out by the end of the day and I regularly fall asleep when putting Cayenne to bed around 8pm (I really do try to stay awake)! The good news? There is a lot to write about! The bad news? I'm hoping I can stay up late enough to write the posts for the blog! I do fully intend to get back to a twice a week blog posting schedule now that the kids are back in school so be on the lookout for posts this upcoming week. For now, I wanted to summarize our 2016, include some family pics and give you a glimpse of the Cortes Crew 2017 goals. Hope you enjoy!